Vikings, etc.

Sunday

Dec 30, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2012 at 11:26 PM

Lance arrived safely this morning, in time to find me an illicit internet connection to the Vikings game on my computer. The NFL has things pretty well nailed down, but the tech-savvy can still find an end-around the paywalls and watch the game for free, which is our constitutional entitlement as American citizens.

Adrian Peterson has another great game and came within 27 feet of becoming the greatest season of any runningback in NFL history. It was fun to watch him. He has an odd style compared to other great running backs. Not nearly as poetic as Walter Payton or Gale Sayers, but he gets the job done.

In the middle of the Vikings game, I went for the most beautiful run in my life. This house abuts a golf course, and the course is surrounded by a cart path. Because the course is abandoned by 3:30, you are free to run on the cart path. Wow. What spectacular scenery. What powerful silence. What incredible vistas of the picturesque mountains to the east over the knolls of green.

As the cart path wove along, nearly tame cottontail rabbits moved off to the side. Ahead, a healthy coyote crossed the path. Obviously, he has a lot of meals left within the confines of the golf course. In the back yards of the houses surrounding the course, dogs barked furiously at the wildlife (and runners) outside. Somebody the other day said the dogs were "saying hi to each other." I somehow don't think this is quite what is going on, but I do understand the need to anthropomorphize the dogs in order to make sense of all the barking.

Two laps around the five holes in this segment of the 18-hole course made for three miles. The cart path featured steeper ups and downs than a street, but I survived them, and I think my legs can benefit. And the scenery, as well as the lack of cars, made the distance short.

Got back in plenty of time to see the dramatic end of the game.

Lance arrived safely this morning, in time to find me an illicit internet connection to the Vikings game on my computer. The NFL has things pretty well nailed down, but the tech-savvy can still find an end-around the paywalls and watch the game for free, which is our constitutional entitlement as American citizens.

Adrian Peterson has another great game and came within 27 feet of becoming the greatest season of any runningback in NFL history. It was fun to watch him. He has an odd style compared to other great running backs. Not nearly as poetic as Walter Payton or Gale Sayers, but he gets the job done.

In the middle of the Vikings game, I went for the most beautiful run in my life. This house abuts a golf course, and the course is surrounded by a cart path. Because the course is abandoned by 3:30, you are free to run on the cart path. Wow. What spectacular scenery. What powerful silence. What incredible vistas of the picturesque mountains to the east over the knolls of green.

As the cart path wove along, nearly tame cottontail rabbits moved off to the side. Ahead, a healthy coyote crossed the path. Obviously, he has a lot of meals left within the confines of the golf course. In the back yards of the houses surrounding the course, dogs barked furiously at the wildlife (and runners) outside. Somebody the other day said the dogs were "saying hi to each other." I somehow don't think this is quite what is going on, but I do understand the need to anthropomorphize the dogs in order to make sense of all the barking.

Two laps around the five holes in this segment of the 18-hole course made for three miles. The cart path featured steeper ups and downs than a street, but I survived them, and I think my legs can benefit. And the scenery, as well as the lack of cars, made the distance short.

Got back in plenty of time to see the dramatic end of the game.

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